Systems for sending and receiving electronic messages (email) using a mobile communication device are known. However, before a mobile communication device may be used to send and receive email, the device must typically be provisioned with an electronic mail service. Provisioning is a general term that is commonly used in the field of mobile communications in reference to the process by which services provided by a service provider are managed.
The technology described in this patent document provides systems and methods for wirelessly provisioning a mobile communication device, such as a cellular telephone, a two-way paging device, a personal digital assistant, or other such device. To provision the mobile communication device to operate with an electronic messaging system, a provisioning request message may be generated at the mobile communication device. The provisioning request message may include a wireless identification for identifying the mobile communication device in a wireless network. The provisioning request message may be transmitted from the mobile communication device to the electronic messaging system using a pre-established communication link. In response to detecting the provisioning request message, the electronic messaging system may be provisioned by storing the wireless identification for use in communicating with the mobile communication device.
In addition, a mobile communication device may be wirelessly provisioned to operate with an enterprise server. The enterprise server may be operable to communicate with a wireless gateway over a computer network to redirect electronic messages from an electronic mail (email) account to the mobile communication device. A provisioning request message may be generated at the mobile communication device that includes a wireless identification for identifying the mobile communication device in a wireless network and also includes an email address identifying the email account. The provisioning request message may be transmitted over the wireless network to the wireless gateway. The email address may be used to transmit the provisioning request message to the email account using an email transfer protocol. The enterprise server may monitor the email account to detect the provisioning request message, and in response to detecting the provisioning request message, may store the wireless identification for redirecting email to the mobile communication device.